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The Good Lion
A story adapted from aviator Beryl Markham’s autobiography, West with the Night, relates a breathtaking incident from her childhood in Africa when she was attacked by a lion. The fully grown male lion named Paddy lives on a neighbor’s land on the edge of the Kikuyu Reserve near Nairobi. He is tame, but young Beryl is always careful around him. One day, she comes upon him by surprise and he begins to follow her. “There was no sound or wind. Even the lion made no sound as he came up swiftly behind me . . . He roared, an immense roar that dissolved me in it.” Beryl is saved by a man who saw the lion stalking her. “He was a good lion, and he had done what he could about being a tame lion. Who thinks it is fair to be judged by a single mistake? I do not begrudge him his moment.” The drama of Markham’s riveting narrative is heightened by Don Brown’s superb watercolor illustrations. ©2006 Cooperative Children’s Book Center
Illustrated by Don Brown
CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 6-9
Age Range:
PreK-Early Elementary (Ages 4-7)
Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Formats:
Biography, Autobiography and Memoir
Picture book
Subjects:
Animals (Informational)
Autobiography/Memoir
Nature/Environment
Survival
Diversity subject:
Black/African
Publisher:
Houghton Mifflin
Publish Year: 2005
Pages: 32
ISBN: 0618563067
CCBC Location: Picture Book, Brown